Black Market Merchant

Chapter 27: The Thing
The hair on the back Lisa’s neck stood up on end!

”This is too freaky! Who or what is still down here in this locked dam tunnel?” Lisa thought a bit panicked.

It wasn’t long before Lisa’s questions would be answered too. The ominous footsteps were still slowly plodding closer from the threatening darkness.

”Pat, pat, pat!”

Lisa instinctively reached for her sword hidden in her jacket with her free hand. The torchlight flickered slowly, and the electric hum of the generator added to the intensity of this moment. The sounds of the footsteps were unbearably close now, when suddenly they stopped. Then she saw something tall appear from the darkness!

At the far edge of the firelight something imposing, slim and grey was standing there looking at her. It was definitely taller than her, stood on two arching hind legs and its arms appeared to be too long compared to the rest of its skinny looking body. She couldn’t make out its face in the dim light. However, it looked like it could see her just fine.

Lisa quickly flicked out her dull blackened sword ready to face the tall creepy ’thing’ standing before her. Though she was ready to fight, her instincts told her to run! But she couldn’t move, no, she dared not move. She was a soldier, soldiers do not run away, they fight!

”Who are you?” Lisa growled towards the creature.

The creature flinched awkwardly hearing her voice so suddenly in the silence of the tunnel. It swayed from side to side looking at Lisa, seemingly trying to get a better look at her. Like some wild animal sizing up its prey before pouncing.

Then it started to circle to the right of Lisa, edging around the rim of the flickering torchlight. Now that it was moving parallel to her, Lisa could better make out the shape of its head. The creepy head was shaped like an American Football, hairless, long and elongated. It appeared not to have any eyes at all, but a thick line crossed its face showing where its mouth might be; it looked like it could be huge. The Thing walked on awkwardly its hind legs with long strides and they would bend backwards, rather than forwards like a human’s leg did. It appeared to coil it arms and long skinny fingers close to its chest as it walked, like some dejected servant. Its uncomfortably long razor like nails glinted faintly and the faint clink of its foot claws could be heard on the concrete floor.

Keeping her back to the tunnel wall, Lisa gently tossed the torch to the floor in front of her and in between them. The creature seemed startled by the torch light suddenly coming closer towards it and took a step back. Apparently, it hadn’t been accustomed to fire before.

The creature looked up from the torch and back to Lisa. Then it let out a screaming warbled noise, revealing its humongous mouth. Rows of small, serrated teeth appeared to glint menacingly in the fire light. The screech echoed violently in the tunnel, which made Lisa whence slightly, but she dared not remove her hands from her weapon.

The creature then opened its arms wide like a crab would in an attempt to intimidate Lisa and it aggressively stepped forward once into the light. Its reach looked like it could nearly be three meters, nearly as long as her own blade! As it was now edging closer, Lisa could see its smooth grey skin, which looked repulsively dry and leathery. The sharp claws on its hands and feet appeared to be very capable of ripping Lisa into pieces. A very terrifying sight to behold and defiantly not something anyone would ever want to come across a lone in a dark tunnel.

Lisa responded to the creature boldness by giving her own shout to show she wasn’t afraid. Then she too took a forceful step forward at this Thing, while menacingly aiming the tip of her sword at the creature. Seeing her actions, the creature hesitated and cocked its head to one side. It didn’t expect that the small human standing boldly before it to actually act aggressive.

That moment of hesitation was all Lisa needed. Swinging her sword outwardly with a blur of motion at the creature, Lisa caught it off guard and struck its left arm leaving a nasty wound. The creature screeched and reeled backwards in both anger and pain as blackish blood oozed from its forearm. Lisa swung again at the creatures’ body, but it was too fast, and it jumped back into the darkness.

All she could hear was the rustle of its clawed feet moving on the concrete in the darkness. Occasionally a low angry growling noise came out from the pitch blackness beyond the torch light. Lisa warily stepped backwards until her back touched the dam’s wall. Keeping her sword ready, she scanned the darkness for any signs of attack. The only signs of the creature were its fresh black blood splattered on the floor.

Muttering encouraging to herself, Lisa prepared for whatever might happen next. ”It might be big and scary, but it can be hurt. I can beat it!”

The creature let out another screech and it suddenly flung itself at her from Lisa’s left! Its greyish body had instantly appeared from the darkness and all Lisa could do was barely perform a rolling dodge. The creature’s nails slashed viciously into the wall and floor leaving deep gashes. The creature let out a warbling scream that sounded angry as it realized it had missed her.

Lisa quickly jumped up from her rolling dodge and stabbed upwardly at the creature. Her sword found its mark and buried deep into the right thigh of the creature. Again, nasty black blood sprayed out from the nightmarish Thing.

The wounded creature screeched exposing its rows of teeth and lashed out at Lisa. The long arms of the creature were like whips and moved far faster than Lisa anticipated. The Thing’s arm struck Lisa’s shoulder knocking her sideways into the darkness! She rolled twice but stopped herself and raised her sword back up to defend herself.

The creature, however, didn’t immediately chase after her. Instead it seemed like it lost sight of her. Apparently, it too couldn’t see that well in the dark.

Lisa noticed this and walked quietly to the right, opposite of where she had been knocked towards. However, unlike its vision the creature seemed to have excellent hearing. It immediately turned towards where Lisa was walking and dug its claws deeply into the concrete floor and then jumped towards where Lisa was moving while hidden in the darkness.

Lisa saw the attack coming and jumped backwards. The creature missed and collided into the second generator heavily. Lisa also collided noisily with the metal railing surrounding the first generator, which knocked her off balance. She was at a disadvantage, the creature knew her location from the sounds she made, but she couldn’t. She needed to even the odds!

Quickly Lisa ran back towards the area lit by the torch. A sudden whooshing sound swept over her head and reflexively she ducked. The creature’s dagger length claws had barely missed her head by a hair’s breadth!

She got back into the torchlight and turned back ready to fight. The creature continued to prowl in the darkness and occasionally it growled angrily. Every time it did Lisa turned nervously in that sounds direction. Fortunately, she had wounded the creature and it now was acting more cautious.

”I need to think of something.” Lisa thought aloud in a hushed voice. Then a thought popped into her head.

What if she flipped the breaker switch on? The lights might work in here and she could see the monster better; at least it couldn’t hide anymore. But then she couldn’t as well.

”Ah, at least we’ll be evenly matched.” Lisa thought almost tossing caution to the wind. Reaching backwards, while keeping her focus on the darkness around her, Lisa fumbled for the breaker switch. Just as she found and gripped it to pull down, another thought occurred to her.

”What if there were more of these things here in the tunnel? Would the light alert and attract them to me?” She hesitated at these thoughts.

The creature in the dark growled loudly again, but much closer. Lisa reactivity turned towards the direction of the sound, but it didn’t attack. Taking a quick glance at the pool of black blood on the floor, from where she stabbed it earlier, she knew it surely was being careful now. It was waiting for Lisa to make a mistake.

”Ah, screw it!” Lisa yelled and threw the breaker up to start up the power.

The generator hummed louder now and the soft sound electric lights turning on sounded out above her. Slowly a majority of the overhead lights began to glow, illuminating the tunnel with a dull yellowish glow. The creature noticed the sudden change and let out an annoyed shriek.

Lisa could see it clearer now. It was standing on top of the second generator and was looking upwards at the brightening lights above in confusion. Now was her chance!

Lisa charged at the creature sword at the ready, closing the distance in no time. With a slight grunt she leapt up at the creature and prepared to stab at the creature’s body. Just as she was about to skewers the Thing, it saw her and raised its arms in defense.

Lisa’s sword stabbed through its right arm and into its shoulder, pinning them together. The creature roared in pain and slipped off the back of the generator. Lisa lost grip of her sword as it did and jumped away from the creature.

She reached quickly for the gun in her other jacket pocket. Originally, she didn’t want to use it in case she might damage the dam’s structures or instruments. Now, however, she had no choice. Holding the gun at the ready with both hands, she slowly rounded the second generator.

The creature was clawing and flopping around trying to free the sword from its body. It saw Lisa pointing the gun at it and opened its mouth letting out a loud warbling scream. It then tried sitting up to attack her, but it was too late.

Lisa pulled the trigger rapidly. The first shot ripped off the creature’s bottom jaw, splattering black blood and teeth everywhere. The next two shots landed in the creature’s chest, knocking it down to the ground. The creature writhed on the ground in its death throws trying to make sense of what was happening to it.

Lisa calmly stood over the dying creature and placed a heavy foot on its chest. Then she aimed at the creature’s head and pulled the trigger once, ending the fight for good.

She let out a sigh of relief. The scary fight was over. Never before had she heard of or encountered such a monstrous creature. Gripping her sword hilt, she removed the blade from the creature’s shoulder. Black blood leaked everywhere from the creature and its foul smell quickly filled the tunnel.

Staying alert, Lisa listened carefully for any other creatures that might be here in the tunnel. Now that the lights were on, she could see the rest of the long curving tunnel passage.

The tunnel had a slight curve in its design, so she couldn’t see to the opposite end of it. There were multiple small sectional rooms with generators and power regulators in them all along the way, so there were plenty of hiding places for other creatures. However, after several minutes of silence Lisa determined that the area was clear for now.

Quickly she turned back to the exit and hurried away from the tunnel at a light jog. Reaching the two metal doors she turned back to take another look, just to be sure she wasn’t followed. Luckily, she saw nothing. Then she quickly shut the door and tied the chain tightly back into place. Then giving another sigh of relief, Lisa clicked the lock tightly to the chain.

Now she was safe!

”I have to let the others know about this creature!” Lisa said to herself while retreating up the stairs to her room.

The night was coming, and she did not want to risk traveling at night if more of those things were out there. After calming down some, she decided to set up some sound traps by the doors and on the stairs leading to her room. The traps were nothing but some cans and string, but they would be sufficient for now.

That night Lisa could hardly sleep, and after long hours of anticipation the sun finally rose.